High Fidelity Mobile Training Vehicle to be Unveiled on March 5

For Immediate Release: Friday, February 24, 2012

High Fidelity Mobile Training Vehicle to be Unveiled on March 5

Four
area organizations have joined forces to develop a state-of-the-art, high
fidelity mobile simulation vehicle that will be used to provide hands-on
training for EMTs, paramedics, firefighters and EMT students.

After more than
three years of planning and development, the vehicle will be unveiled on
Monday, March 5, at 1:00 PM, at Hillsboro Fire Station #6.

Washington
County Emergency Medical Services Office (WCEO), Portland Community College
(PCC), OregonHealth & ScienceUniversity's
Department of Emergency Medicine (OHSU) and Oregon Institute of Technology
Portland (OIT) are the partners in this effort.

"We
had been looking to expand our simulation program, too," says John Saito, Dean
of Allied Health, Emergency, and Legal Services at PCC's Cascade campus. "When WashingtonCountyEMS
approached us to partner with them on this project, it afforded an opportunity
for us to gain access to people and equipment that we could not have afforded
on our own."

In
exchange for providing funding, expertise or other resources, each partner
agency is able to utilize the vehicle to conduct trainings.

The
simulation vehicle is equipped like a fully functioning ambulance. Lifelike
on-board mannequins breathe, sweat, bleed and even talk. They will be used to train
students on inserting IVs, advanced airway and life support, chest
decompressions, injecting fluids and medications directly into bone, and other
life-saving measures. The ambulance is outfitted with sophisticated audiovisual
equipment that allows students outside of the vehicle to observe what is
happening inside.

All
of the bells and whistles will be demonstrated on Monday, March 5, at 1:00 PM,
at the Hillsboro Fire Station #6, 21880 NW Cherry Lane. The public is welcome.
For more information about this project, contact WashingtonCountyEMS at 503-846-4956.